Posts
4/10/2011 05:48:00 PM
David Michels
ChurchCrunch blog posted a cool Easter website (remember to scroll down.) The splash page is interactive and offers a linear narration. It is an invitation to a Easter Celebration. Obviously they put a lot of resources into this web ad. After a viewed their presentation I began to wonder who these folks were. Hmm. Not much on the website. Oh, a facebook page...ok, not much here but there is a link to another facebook page, Rock Harbour Church...and a link to the church website. I had to wander about the social media a bit but I did find out what they believe.
They have carefully considered and well articulated teachings. So why hide them? Are they trying to focus on the central message? Avoid distracting debates? Last August I posted about a conference paper the focused on the United Church of Canada's WonderCafe web campaign. Despite the size and expense of the campaign, the researchers questioned its impact. People came, looked around and wandered off. Visitors liked the openness and willingness to dialogue but in the end couldn't figure out what the church actually believed. Dudes, they want to get to know you; don't be so cagey! Tell the people what you believe!
I've re-posted the paper abstract below from the conference website (pdf) for your interest.
7th International Conference on Media Religion and Culture, Aug. 9-13, 2010, Ryerson University, Toronto.
David Haskell (Wilfrid Laurier University) Kevin Flatt (Redeemer University College) and Robin Lathangue (Trent University) Measuring the Effectiveness of a Church’s Off-line and On-line Marketing Campaign: The Case of the United Church of Canada’s “WonderCafe”
In November 2006, in the context of declining membership, the United Church of Canada (UCC) launched an advertising campaign. At a cost of approximately 10.5 million dollars it was hailed as the most expensive marketing strategy ever employed by a Canadian church.
The campaign featured a set of provocative ads that ran nationally in popular, high-profile print publications; it also featured an interactive web site called The WonderCafe. Each of the ads posed a challenging spiritual or moral question then asked readers to go online and discuss the issue at the web site. The leaders within the UCC said the goal of the nationally-publicized WonderCafe print ads and the associated WonderCafe web site was two-fold. They were created to project a positive, public image of the United Church (as the “home of open-minded conversation”) and to ultimately convince members of the Canadian population to attend/join local congregations of the denomination.
The purpose of this study was to qualitatively gauge the effectiveness of the WonderCafe ads and web site as a means of promoting the UCC by probing the cognitive processing of viewers of those media artefacts. Through a series of focus groups, a total of 62 religious seekers were asked to view the ads and then the web site. After viewing the ads the participants were asked a series of open-ended questions to determine 1) how the respective artefacts affected their perceptions of the United Church and 2) whether the respective artefacts inspired them to possible action (e.g., attend a United Church service). Similar questions were asked after perusing the web site.
Forty percent of participants described themselves as “no religion”; 40% described their faith as Catholic and 20% described themselves as Protestant (two attending the UCC). Almost three-quarters stated they knew nothing about, and had no opinion on, the UCC.
Qualitative analysis of participant responses determined the following: Over 40% of participants, suggested that the ads got them thinking about the UCC; however, for more than half of those, their perceptions were slightly negative. Further, no ad viewer mentioned a desire to learn more about the United Church and only 8% voiced an interest in perusing the WonderCafe web site now or at some point in the future.
Post web site viewing, almost 80% of participants had positive perceptions of the UCC as an open and accepting denomination in terms of social and religious issues. However, in half of responses and often alongside positive comments about the church’s openness were remarks expressing confusion or frustration over the web site’s lack of doctrinal information on the UCC. Discounting two participants who regularly attended the UCC, about 15% of participants acknowledged some interest in attending a UCC church service. However, their attendance was always expressed in highly tentative terms (e.g., “If I ever go to a church…”) and was never shown to be a pressing desire.
With reference to the results of the analysis, the efficacy and limitations of religious marketing, especially religious marketing that employs the internet, are discussed.
They have carefully considered and well articulated teachings. So why hide them? Are they trying to focus on the central message? Avoid distracting debates? Last August I posted about a conference paper the focused on the United Church of Canada's WonderCafe web campaign. Despite the size and expense of the campaign, the researchers questioned its impact. People came, looked around and wandered off. Visitors liked the openness and willingness to dialogue but in the end couldn't figure out what the church actually believed. Dudes, they want to get to know you; don't be so cagey! Tell the people what you believe!
I've re-posted the paper abstract below from the conference website (pdf) for your interest.
7th International Conference on Media Religion and Culture, Aug. 9-13, 2010, Ryerson University, Toronto.
David Haskell (Wilfrid Laurier University) Kevin Flatt (Redeemer University College) and Robin Lathangue (Trent University) Measuring the Effectiveness of a Church’s Off-line and On-line Marketing Campaign: The Case of the United Church of Canada’s “WonderCafe”
In November 2006, in the context of declining membership, the United Church of Canada (UCC) launched an advertising campaign. At a cost of approximately 10.5 million dollars it was hailed as the most expensive marketing strategy ever employed by a Canadian church.
The campaign featured a set of provocative ads that ran nationally in popular, high-profile print publications; it also featured an interactive web site called The WonderCafe. Each of the ads posed a challenging spiritual or moral question then asked readers to go online and discuss the issue at the web site. The leaders within the UCC said the goal of the nationally-publicized WonderCafe print ads and the associated WonderCafe web site was two-fold. They were created to project a positive, public image of the United Church (as the “home of open-minded conversation”) and to ultimately convince members of the Canadian population to attend/join local congregations of the denomination.
The purpose of this study was to qualitatively gauge the effectiveness of the WonderCafe ads and web site as a means of promoting the UCC by probing the cognitive processing of viewers of those media artefacts. Through a series of focus groups, a total of 62 religious seekers were asked to view the ads and then the web site. After viewing the ads the participants were asked a series of open-ended questions to determine 1) how the respective artefacts affected their perceptions of the United Church and 2) whether the respective artefacts inspired them to possible action (e.g., attend a United Church service). Similar questions were asked after perusing the web site.
Forty percent of participants described themselves as “no religion”; 40% described their faith as Catholic and 20% described themselves as Protestant (two attending the UCC). Almost three-quarters stated they knew nothing about, and had no opinion on, the UCC.
Qualitative analysis of participant responses determined the following: Over 40% of participants, suggested that the ads got them thinking about the UCC; however, for more than half of those, their perceptions were slightly negative. Further, no ad viewer mentioned a desire to learn more about the United Church and only 8% voiced an interest in perusing the WonderCafe web site now or at some point in the future.
Post web site viewing, almost 80% of participants had positive perceptions of the UCC as an open and accepting denomination in terms of social and religious issues. However, in half of responses and often alongside positive comments about the church’s openness were remarks expressing confusion or frustration over the web site’s lack of doctrinal information on the UCC. Discounting two participants who regularly attended the UCC, about 15% of participants acknowledged some interest in attending a UCC church service. However, their attendance was always expressed in highly tentative terms (e.g., “If I ever go to a church…”) and was never shown to be a pressing desire.
With reference to the results of the analysis, the efficacy and limitations of religious marketing, especially religious marketing that employs the internet, are discussed.
